Zach Charbonnet Has Committed To Michigan Comment Count

Ace

It's one of those weekends.

Michigan added their second commit of the day and fifth of the week when four-star Westlake Village (CA) Oaks Christian running back Zach Charbonnet announced his pledge on Twitter. Charbonnet was among the many prospects on campus this weekend and the official visit led to him choosing the Wolverines over offers from UCLA, USC, Washington, Wisconsin, Florida, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and many others. It's not too difficult to see why so many power programs were in pursuit after watching his junior highlights, or even the first few plays on it:

All three recruiting sites list Charbonnet as a four-star; 247 is the most bullish, ranking him ninth among running backs and inside the top 250 overall, while Rivals (#20 RB) and ESPN (#26 RB) have him outside their respective top 300s for now.

A full Hello post will go up early this week. Here's a teaser provided by 247's Barton Simmons:

"Zach Charbonnet out of Oaks Christian in California caught my eye," Simmons wrote. "He’s got the prerequisite production having topped 2,000 yards as a junior against elite competition. At first glance a 11.2 100 meter time in track may restrict him from that elite future first rounder tier until you realize that Saquon Barkley and Rashaad Penny had similar track times in high school. His listed height at 6-foot-2 can be seen as a positive or a negative. Certainly he can carry the big back label but considering the ‘busts’ of Ty Isaac and Chris Warren, the late-round brand on Bo Scarbrough and the still-pending fate of Jalen Hurd, is a 6-foot-2 frame too big? Turn on the film and I see great feet, suddenness and twitch out of Charbonnet and I lean towards optimism on his trajectory."

Charbonnet is the 13th commit in the 2019 class, which ranks 15th nationally and second in the Big Ten.

Comments

njvictor

June 24th, 2018 at 8:58 PM ^

At first I thought this kid wasn't super fast based on the Hudl footage on his 247 page, but watch his Junior year highlights and, wow, this kid has some burst for someone 6'2". He's got size, strength, speed, and agility. Really liking this pick up

Victor Hale II

June 24th, 2018 at 9:59 PM ^

Wow, very impressive game tape.  Quick lateral movement, good vision, sets up his blocks, and can turn on the jets when there’s green in front of him.  And if I’m not mistaken, that’s against really good competition. 

theguy49503

June 24th, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^

A few things I look at for backs are vision, feet in traffic, pad level in traffic and fluidness when switching hands with the ball in traffic or in the open field on cut backs..... He checks all the matks. Not saying he's the next great thing but kid looks comfortable and smooth at full speed with the ball in his hands 

NotADuck

June 24th, 2018 at 11:23 PM ^

Huuuuuuge get!  This is me playing armchair scout here but I don't think players like Bo Scarbrough and Ty Isaac had the juking ability that this kid has!  Both of those guys were strong college backs and had great size and speed combinations but they couldn't move laterally the way this kid does.  If you haven't watched the video in this post, do it now.  You won't regret it!  (unless he decomits (crosses fingers))

Sopwith

June 24th, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^

He doesn't always look like he's running that fast, but his strides just gobble up real estate. Reminds me a little of Terrelle Pryor, who used to look like he was jogging along but he'd always beat you to the edge because his strides were inhumanly long.

Nifty feet for a bigger dude, too. Verrrrrrry nifty.

The Fan in Fargo

June 25th, 2018 at 12:18 AM ^

This might be the one we've been waiting for boys to bring back the ground game. Couldn't have come at a perfect time. If the younger running-backs aren't cutting it next season, this kid can come in and rack em up. The offensive line will be like a fully operational death star by that time.

JTrain

June 25th, 2018 at 6:43 AM ^

Nice pull UM!! Keep em’ coming. Seems like Dudek needs a raise maybe!!

This seems like this will be a tough one to hold on to but I hope I’m wrong.  

 

If we could get this train rolling the way it should be (win some big games and a big ten championship) I think this is what our baseline recruiting would be like every year...and then some. 

Joby

June 25th, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^

Amen to that!  I'm surprised that more recruits don't try to include even just 1 or 2 examples of "recognition plays" where they pick up a stunt, make a block on the edge, etc.  I assume recruiting coaches must have access to much more video.

Alumnus93

June 25th, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^

First thing comes to mind is I hope this is similar to the success MSC has in recruiting big RB like Bell and Scott, and nott with Isaac and Green...

True Blue Grit

June 25th, 2018 at 11:59 AM ^

Great news!  Welcome to Michigan, Zach!

What really jumps out in the video highlights is the quick feet.  A lot of big, fast RB's in H.S. can outrun and overpower people.  But, Charbonnet has great change of direction and jump cuts that you don't see often.  Looks like his vision is very good too.  He has a lot of upside from my amateur viewpoint.